Chapter 60: The Bid (I)
Soft voices could be heard in the darkness. My eyes slowly focused, and I glanced around, wondering where I was at. Moving around, I noticed that my hands and feet were tied behind my back.
What the heck? I glanced down. I was sitting on the chair with my mouth wrapped with a cloth. Was I just chained to the chair? Rattling metal could be heard, and the murmuring voices stopped.
Two people stepped out from the darkness and into the bright light. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to see who it was.
An elderly Asian man that steps out, his bald head glimmers underneath the harsh light making his head shine like a cue ball. "So this is the so-called White Dragon? A Kid? Are you sure you got the right one?"
"She's the one," said Rei calmly. He stepped out right behind the elderly man.
"Even though you are known to be the number one tracker, you think you can trick me?" The elderly man scowled, looking at Rei as if he was lying.
"I am not lying, nor did I find the wrong person. I'm telling you she is the one." Rei motioned his hand in front of him, emphasizing that he wasn't just running his mouth. He stopped, taking a step forward to take a look at Berry. "Even though I still have a difficult time believing that she's so young."
"If you don't believe in such things, then why did you bring her here."
Rei took a moment to answer, but he clearly stated with confidence. "Its intuition. After she ate the gold, why wouldn't I?"
"Your sense of reasoning doesn't make sense."
"Come on, old man." Rei half-heartedly laughs, "I always deliver things 100%. Never have I failed once."
"We'll see if you tell the truth. If you lie, you will die first."
"I am confident in what I bring." Rei scoffed at the old man's words.
The elderly man slowly walked around me. He reached up towards my head and lifted my chin.
I felt a cold shiver run down my back. My eyes squinted, and I gave the elderly man a glare. Being tied down like an animal made me want to tear off both of their heads.
"She looks like she's only ten years old." The old man moved my head in different directions.
"Probably why she had that tantrum at the store then." Rei chuckled. "It wouldn't be a surprise at all if we go with that reasoning."
"You fool. You think a dragon would just show itself over a tantrum. Do you actually believe that?
A dragon of all creatures is considered the wisest and knowledgeable mythical creature in existence. Compared to us humans, they wouldn't do things without a cause."
The elderly bald man was seriously overly praising me. To my embarrassment, I would actually agree with Rei's statement more. It was a so-called tantrum of not being able to eat gold, which caused substantial casualties and destruction.
"But she's a kid." Rei threw out his words, disappointed that I was a kid, to begin with.
"So? A Divine creature like a dragon had lived one hundred times more than anyone of us. You think such a creature would have a mind of a child in our perspective?"
Uh yeah. I couldn't help but answer Rei question in my mind. Was I that old? Seriously? I barely even lived for over twenty-five years. Well, I'm not even sure anymore. The wisdom of a dragon is completely bogus right now. If I had such wisdom, I would've used it by now not to get caught.
I wanted to smack those two, so they have some common sense knocked into them, but all I could do was grumble. Plus, this was kidnapping. Hopefully, Phil will know that I'm gone. Wait, I shouldn't even count on him. I'm no damsel in distress here. I'm a dragon.…that has been tied up like a fool—complete failure in trying to boost up my self-esteem.
"A child dragon is fine. We might even be able to bring out the older dragon's." The old man spoke with a grin.
"I don't think that is a great idea."
"What are you talking about? Think about it, having a dragon under you to rule the country. Do you not understand what it means to have the symbol of a dragon means? It is the sign of a king."
"This is in modern times," Rei replied, rolling his eyes, not really taking in the old man's words. He crossed his arms. "I don't think people think like that these days."
"This wouldn't only prove that the mythical creatures are real, but also boost me in the political campaign. I do not see myself just ruling one country but the whole world." The old man stood up straight, thinking about the future that was to come.
"I think you might be pushing your luck too much." Rei snorted.
The old man glared. "Tch, you brat don't understand the bigger picture. In China, an emperor is represented by the dragon. With me bringing her to China, I would be revered as being placed as the king."
"I highly doubt that." Rei rolled his eyes at the old man's words. "Or in the western culture, you would be seen as the reincarnation of the devil that brought the end of the world."
A loud punch could be heard from the bald man making contact on Rei's face. "Be quiet, fool! I am no devil."
"You sure act like one." Rei spat blood out of his mouth and onto the ground. He massaged his face and grinned. "Pay up so I can leave."
"I could kill you right here and now." The old man growled, looking at Rei with disgust. He wasn't too thrilled with what Rei had said or enjoyed his presence at all.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You already know that's going to completely backfire on you on your goal."
The bald man grinned his teeth, and venomously spoke. "Do you think you can dangle such a cheap threat to me?"
"Cheap? Hardly. By the rate that you are getting angry, I know I hit the right spot."
The bald man went silent and instead let out all his steam. The once angered voice was gone, and instead, a serene voice that was devoid of emotion was spoken. The change made me feel very uncomfortable, making me realize how volatile the human emotion was. "Until she is tested, I can not give you your money."
"Fine then, I'll be sticking around." Rei was not happy with the old man's decision. He honestly wanted to kill the fool and be gone. Taking a look at me, I felt a shiver.
"Do what you will." The bald man clapped his hands. A group of men in white coats came in and surrounded all around me. Medical machines that I have never seen before were pushed into the room.
"Will just start out with a simple blood test."
The people in lab coats brought out a syringe. They pushed my arms forward so they could take a sample of my blood. The moment of contact, the syringe broke in half.
"What?"
The old man turned around. "What's wrong?"
"Well, nothing, sir." The people in lab coats tried again. The second syringe once again broke on contact as it tried to pierce my skin. "It did it again."
"What did it again?" The bald man came forward and watched what the man in the lab coat was doing.
One after the other, every single syringe was broken in half. "I don't understand what's going on? How is it possible for a girl to have such thick skin?" They stared flabbergasted.
"Well, let me try." Rei came over, and in one swing, he rammed a knife downwards onto my arm.
Alarmed, I thought my arm was going to cut in half from that swing for a moment. Instead, the knife broke into two pieces and fell onto the floor. Silence filled the room as they stare with gaping jaws. They did not fully understand what had happened.
"I guess I 'll try with something a bit stronger." Rei had a hint of darkness in his voice. I did not like where this was going and started to struggle.
My strength was not completely back, but this did not mean I couldn't break free from the chains. One pull, I freed my arms and pushed aside the people next to me. They flew across and hit the wall, crumbling into the ground like putty.
"I told you I got the right one," Rei spoke giddily. He pulled out a gun and shot multiple shots. Every single one bounced off my body and did not inflict a single wound. My arms and body were covered in white scales that cropped up to protect my body. I couldn't help but wonder at the strange predicament of my skin, I did not realize that I could do this now and not in the past. I wonder why it was not that I can unconsciously bring up such power. In the past practicing with Phil, I always had a couple of wounds here and there.
I ripped off the gag on my mouth and pulled hard on the other chains.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone